Powers Of Attorney

A power of attorney is a legal document where you appoint a person of your choice to manage your legal and financial affairs if you are unable to do so yourself due to illness, an accident or your absence.

There are 2 types of power of attorney.

A General Power of Attorney is usually used for short term appointments such as if you are going overseas for a month or so and want someone to look after your affairs while you are away, or for one off transactions, for example to sell or buy property, shares or other financial assets for you. A general power of attorney automatically terminates if you lose mental capacity. If you lose mental capacity, you will be unable to make another Power of attorney because you lack the mental capacity to do so.

An Enduring Power of Attorney is the most common form of power of attorney. This is a long-term appointment of someone to manage your affairs and it continues to operate if you lose mental capacity. Making an enduring power of attorney while you still have capacity is a cheap, easy and practical step to preparing for the future.

Making a power of attorney does not mean you lose your legal right to operate your own finances. You can still continue to look after your own money and property while you still have capacity to do so.

With either power of attorney, you can choose when you want it to commence operation, such as, when it is signed by the attorney, when the attorney thinks it’s necessary to start looking after your affairs, or when a medical practitioner provides a certificate stating that you can no longer manage your own affairs.

If you would like to appoint an attorney or if you would like to discuss making your power of attorney with us, CONTACT US.